TERRACE MARTIN (PART 3) (August 2007) | Interview By: Eddie Gurrola

       Dubcnn is back with the third and final part of our extensive interview with Terrace Martin. In this exclusive, we continue to discuss the making of Terrace's upcoming street album "Signal Flow." We talk about his experiences recording with Kurupt, Busta Rhymes, Hi-Tek, and Problem, among others. Terrace also narrates the elaborate, inspirational story behind his hit song "Be Thankful," which first appeared on Snoop Dogg's "Big Squeeze" compilation. Read on to find about these topics and much more.



As always we have both the transcript and the audio for you to check and please feel free to send any feedback regarding the interview to: eddie@dubcnn.com

 

Interview was done in August 2007.

Questions Asked By : Eddie Gurrola

Terrace Martin Gave Dubcnn.com A Shoutout! Check That Here

Full Interview In Audio : Here

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out Part 1 of this Exclusive Feature Here

Check out Part 2 of this Exclusive Feature Here
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

Dubcnn: Let’s talk about this track you’ve got with Busta Rhymes called “Behind Enemy Lines.” How did you come into contact with Busta for a track on this street album?

I originally cut this record for Snoop Dogg during the time of “Joysticc” [and] a few other records. At the time, I guess Snoop wasn’t on it. So Snoop passed on it, and that’s alright, it’s only music! Snoop – he’ll say it’s dope, and it is dope, but it just ain’t for him. So we put it in Ice Cube’s hands, and [he] wanted it. But I didn’t know that my friend J Black, who wrote and sang on the hook, had put it in Busta’s hands.

Busta wanted it, [and] he was doing “The Big Bang” at the time, but it didn’t make the record. So, once again, I got a hook on it and a verse, something real simple, just to show people that Busta is out here still bussin’. He’s still a timeless MC – one of the best, one of the inventors of this. Shouts out to Busta. He killed it! A lot of people haven’t heard Busta Rhymes like this on this [record.] It’s definitely dope – with J Black on the hook, [and] the beat is crazy. It’s a fun record. It’s gangsta, but it’s cool.


Dubcnn: It’s got to be quite a compliment too to have Busta Rhymes and Ice Cube fighting over your record! Does it get any better than that?

Nah man!


Dubcnn: So, let’s move on to this solo jazz track you’ve got on here called “Locke High.” Hi-Tek produced this record, but you’re performing the saxophone on it. Tell us about your inspiration for this song…

I was going to do a jazz record one or two years ago. My concept for the jazz record, with me being a saxophonist, was [for it] to be different. I had Hi-Tek on it [and] Battlecat. I was playing the sax on it, and just getting records done. I [ended up] getting sidetracked. This game is so [scared] of different [stuff.] They couldn’t take a dude with 501 [jeans] and a white T-Shirt playing the saxophone over Hi-Tek records.


Dubcnn: It sounds tight to me at least…

They shut me down! I named [the song] “Locke High” because that’s where I graduated from. That’s where I learned about 80% of [the things I know about] life and music. Reggie Andrews, who is the musical director, is like my godfather, and really looked out for me. I wanted to do a song in dedication to that. It’s “Locke High” because how I’m playin’ is how I’m feelin’!

When I hear that song, it puts me back to posting up at Locke High School, [and] walking down to that music room. Reggie Andrews is the one that let me borrow that MPC 60 to get my [game] together. Then, me being from the West side, and going to school on the East side was a whole different culture shock. So that song is the best man! It’s a cultural shock, it’s a musical shock: it just shocks you! A lot of people haven’t really heard me play the saxophone. Plus, you’ve got Hi-Tek! God, is that weird or what? It’s crazy.


Dubcnn: So you’re saying this track is a tribute to your high school years, looking back on it now…

[It’s] looking back to high school, but also looking back to those years. High school was some of the most important years of my life. I didn’t do the regular high school thing – I was always practicing. I used to ditch school and catch the bus to UCLA to sit in on their music classes [and] learn more about theory. I didn’t really ditch school to hang out that much, I’d ditch school to practice on that saxophone or on that drum machine. This is paying tribute to the school, to Reggie Andrews, [and] paying tribute to God. Thank you for all of that. I don’t have that much to give you, but I can give you this song.


Dubcnn: The last track on the street album is “Be Thankful.” We heard it on “The Big Squeeze,” and to me it was a very sentimental, soulful track.

Very sentimental!


Dubcnn: Tell us all about the creation of the track…

I did the beat in my old bedroom at my Mama’s house. I was going through a lot. I had just come out of a crazy relationship…we was both crazy! My head was all kinds of places, and so my music was a reflection of that. The music to “Be Thankful” told me what to write about on that record. I sampled the drums from J Dilla, from “The Shining.” Good lookin’, rest in peace. I was [also] listening to “Friends” earlier in the day. I sampled the drums that day, [and] we played the pattern. Then I broke out my Wortescher, did that with that mini-moog. I got down, and sat with it for a minute.

[Then] I called Problem. Problem helped pen a lot of that right there. I told him what I was going through, and I said “Yo, this is what I need to say!” We penned that up together, but Problem did the whole breadth of that record right there. I just told him “I need to go do this. This is what I need to do.” Problem is…you know how Dre had D.O.C. and Snoop, that’s what Problem is.


Dubcnn: He’s on that level for you guys?

Oh yes! For my whole circle man! We’ve actually been writing pop records for a whole bunch of different pop artists right now. It’s how writers make a living out here. But on [“Be Thankful,”] Problem really did his thing on that record. He did his thing, [and] I brought it to life.

We did the vocals at Snoop’s [old] studio on Summer and Wilcox. That’s where we did a lot of these records. A lot of “The Blue Carpet Treatment” was done there too. But we did that record late at night. Then Uncle Chuck came through. I [was like] “I need you to sing on this hook.” He had never sang on anything we did – nothing anybody did, really. He was always the guitar player, the bass player, or the piano player. But he conceded man!

He was feeling what I was saying, because everybody on that record related to that record. We all had a story to pull from that record. Chuck came by and killed it. Then J Black came through later on. I moved up one of my verses, and put an 8-bar thing for J Black. “Hood to hood, block to block…” So he did it like that. Then Snoop and Battlecat heard it, and [they] were like “You need to do something bigger with this!”


Dubcnn: So the whole thing was done…

It was done! Snoop was like “You need to get bigger. Show more of the live element in it! This is your song. You’re bussin’ on it, the pen is right, the hook, everything is right, the music is vibin’!” So, I started putting the pieces together. Once again, I called my brother Marlon Williams to come through, and [he] just kicked it off with the guitar. Then I thought I was done.

But two weeks later, we was workin’ on [it] at a studio called Westlake. We was feelin’ it, but it still wasn’t there. So after, we came with the idea of, you know, let’s play the music out. Terrace, get back on the finger rolls, get the mini-moog out, get the strings out, [and] let’s get it poppin’! We did all that, and then I sat back and said, “You know what this record needs? A choir and my mother!” So we put together a little 20-piece choir. We put the choir part on, [then] my mom came through the next day, [and] sang the lead at the end of the record. Then I picked up my saxophone. Man, it was spiritual that night! It was moving.

It’s the last song, and that’s what it’s about: be thankful. Not just for me, but to everybody. We should all be thankful. That record is my life story. There’s no lie on that record. You know how people try to make a little extra out of it [with their lyrics]? That record is the truth. That’s what actually made me go back and re-do my whole record. On a lot of things, we was adding a lot of extras on it, because that’s what entertainers do. But I said, “You know what, I want to be the first one to do a record about truth.”

Like yeah, I used to want to gangbang, I used to dress like one and hang with them. But every time [people] started shooting, I’d be scared because I didn’t want to die. I had something to live for. I had music. I had a saxophone, and I had two loving parents. So, I wanted to get that across because there’s a lot of people like me that grew up in neighborhoods, and [are] surrounded by their homeboys, and they fall victim to that game.

I’ve got a homie right now doing life in jail for killing somebody – not wanting to pull the trigger, but wanting to impress other people. Now he’s in jail, and they call that being a killer for the hood. That’s the only stripe you’ve got. You can’t see your family, you can’t see your kids, but you get the mark of being an “O.G. killa nigga” from the hood. I don’t think that’s fly. It’s all about music and having people live. I don’t want to see nobody die.

Don’t nobody want to get hurt, I don’t care how tough you are. You can be the biggest [person] from any hood in L.A. You don’t want to get hit in the face, and you damn sure don’t want to get shot in the head. But I’m thankful that somebody can hear that, and somebody can relate. I’ve been getting great responses from that song, and that song is for everybody. It’s not just for me, I did it for everybody. What’s up Nima, you’re on the front. I sampled you, and I didn’t even clear you!


Dubcnn: Tell us about this “No Violence” track with Kurupt!

Man, next to “Coast To Coast,” this is my second favorite record on here. It’s equally as great as “Coast To Coast.” I think the music speaks for itself. I think Kurupt on here, it’s like “Wow!” When you’re as great as he is, as young as he was, that greatness doesn’t go anywhere. It takes that music to bring it out of people. It takes that producer. Then, once you have that producer, all the proper keys are in the right ignition, ready to roll off. I’m on that drum machine, and Kurupt picks up that Sidekick and writes those rhymes. It’s over dude. Over, over, over! Kurupt man, it’s scary how somebody could be that great. I’m a fan! You heard it!


Dubcnn: Yeah, it reminded me of “New York, New York,” or something like that from the early days…

It just reminds me of somebody that cares about the rhymes [and] the pen before anything in life. To me, he treats that particular record like it’s one of his kids. He’s careful, he’s potent. When you have kids, you care about them: you hug them, you love them. That’s what it sounds like he’s doing with that ink pen. It’s just so lethal. Lyrics with no violence, man! Poltergiest on hard! He’s just crazy. That’s all I’ve got to say about that one.


Dubcnn: Is there anything else you want to say to everyone on Dubcnn?

Yep! Keep pushing good music. Me, as a fan of music, and a student of music, I’m happy that people are really pushing that hardcore music line now. Mykestro, Glasses Malone, Bishop Lamont. Hot Dollar – Hot Dollar is pushin’! He’s making it a good look for everybody over here. He came to my house a few weeks ago with a dear friend of mine, Big D, [who is] like my uncle. [Hot Dollar’s] got a lot of sense man, he’s a smart dude. He’s a straight up and down dude. I like Hot Dollar a lot. I just saw his video on 106th and Park. Everybody vote for Hot Dollar’s video! Let’s support our own. Even if you don’t like it, just vote for him. He’s one of ours. Cats like that make it easier for us to get a look out here, because they’ll look at us again. Hot Dollar is burnin’ man! He’s sounding good and everything.

Glasses Malone with Mack 10 and Cash Money, that’s big! That’s huge. Bishop Lamont: support whatever he does. He’s with the King, he’s with Dr. Dre. Start supporting Mykestro. I’m just happy seeing people pushing everything in a good motion. I think we’re definitely moving forward. Problem, Roscoe, these cats are definitely going forward. Definitely be looking out for Snoop’s group The Hustle Boys, [and] Warzone, [and the] Westurn Union. Chris Star, he’s around, killin’ on the vocals, excellent singer. Keep grindin’ man, and keep staying afloat. Keep staying tuned to Dubcnn! Peace, God bless, later!